Health Insurance Marketplace Gains 25 Percent More Issuers in 2015

By Bonnie Bochniak
Vice President, Government Relations

A new report released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that consumers will have more options to choose from when they shop for health coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace for coverage beginning in 2015. This is a direct effect from a 25% increase in the number of issuers offering coverage through the Marketplace for next year.

The Marketplace is adding 77 new health insurance issuers which allows consumers a greater selection and also increases competition throughout the market. The main purpose of the Marketplace was to increase competition and lower costs for consumers.  In previous estimates HHS has found a correlation between greater competition and lower costs.  For example, in a recent press release from HHS, they stated, “an increase of one issuer in a rating area is associated with a 4 percent decline in the second-lowest cost silver plan premium, on average.  In 2014, consumers in regions with larger numbers of issuers were able to access a wider range of choices.”

HHS’s report studies preliminary data from 36 states run or fully supported by the federal government (Federal Marketplace) in addition to eight states operating State-based Marketplaces, and finds that a larger set of insurance issuers will offer plans in the Marketplaces in 2015. 

In detail: 
 
•In the 44 states for which we have data, 77 issuers will be newly offering coverage in 2015.
•The eight State-based Marketplaces where data is already available will have a total of six more issuers in 2015, a ten percent net increase over this year.
•The Federal Marketplace states alone will have 57 more issuers in 2015; a 30 percent net increase over this year.
•Four of the 36 states in the Federal Marketplace will have at least double the number of issuers they had in 2014.
•In total, 36 states of the 44 will have at least one new issuer next year.   And some of the nation’s largest insurance companies will be offering coverage in more than a dozen new states, joining the hundreds of insurance companies already participating in the Marketplace.

As always, please contact our government relations team with any questions or comments. We encourage your feedback! By email: bbochniak@michbusiness.org or by phone: 888-277-6464.
Source: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2014/NewEntrants/ib_NewEntrants.pdf